Being a Badass After a Brain Injury

by | May 16, 2019 | Parenting

Are you ready to be inspired by this  empowered, brave woman as she tells her journey?

Of course, you are!

Joanne Smith of Dare to Dreams Soaps and More joins us this week to share how she has overcome living with a brain injury.

 

Joanne Smith is a wife, mom, animal and nature lover.  Her life took an unfortunate turn when she became a SURVIVOR of a brutal attack – true to her determined, firey, loving spirit she uses how this experience has shaped her life to inform and show others that we can all beat the odds, we can all surpass Doctors expectations and continue to adapt!

She is the owner of Dare to Dream Soaps and More where she creates luxurious body products.  She truly cares for each client and strives to have her numerous creations provide YOU with an experience. 

Dare To Dream and it will come true. 

Magic Money Manifestation

by | Apr 25, 2019 | Affirmations, Parenting

Are you ready to bring more abundance into your life?

Of course you are!

Aoife Gaffney joins us today to teach her effective free 5 step technique to bring more abundance into your life.

Can’t wait to see what you manifest!

Ready to dive deep into this? Schedule a call FREE with Aoife HERE.

Aoife Gaffney MSc (Hons) BSc (Open) QFA LIB CMC is the founder and CEO of Prudence Moneypenny Coaching, and the creator of her signature “Money Magic” programme designed to empower women to take control of their financial freedom.

She is an eternal student and the go-to person when it comes to all things money. Using speaking as a way to share her expertise and teach women, this successful best-selling author launched and grew her business after many years as a financial adviser.

Aoife helps women get out of that scary place of isolation and fear around money. She helps women of all ages expand their money mindset and learn powerful techniques which allow them to grow their wealth more efficiently, effectively, and strategically with little or no extra effort.

Mud Season Again

by | Apr 23, 2019 | Parenting

April rains will become May flowers.

The seasons come and the seasons go and once again we are back around to my least favorite of them all, Mud season.

How is spring treating you?

The seasons come and the seasons go and once again we are back around to my least favorite of them all, Mud season. Only this year it has been interesting with snow arriving in the middle of it, then a week or two without mud before it returns again.

We also have a pig this time around who’s sty is in a constant state of mud this spring up to her forelocks but she doesn’t seem to mind.

We are building a big duck/goose/hen house from scratch which is going to be 8 by 12 and we are doing it very near the current duck yard so the ground down there is squishy with duck droppings and mud.

Also ducks like to dig holes in the ground with their beaks to look for additional bugs and worms, so that can make for an interesting ground underfoot as well.

I do not have any toddlers this year. My youngest is 5 ½ and so far hasn’t been too into building mud puddles, thank the gods! This year they have been far happier to ride bikes and jump on the recently raised swing, which has been nice.

But we have had baby girl ducklings in your bathroom along with some meat birds and hens since the basement is still too cold to move baby birds down there. I can’t wait until the big house is built and they can all move down there. Unfortunately we have been getting so much rain lately that it is hard to get any building done when my hubby is home. The weekends have been a wash out.

At least with the mud the mosquitoes and black flies haven’t come out yet. However we have already seen ticks this year. Sigh.

I can see the glimmers of summer. We are in the second half of April and I can see the Girl Scout year winding down, and I am ready for it. I am ready to move into summer days and weekly forays to the beach and later daily visits to the lake. I am ready to be reading and knitting outside and to have the kids go outside more so I can actually remember what it is like to hear myself think.

April rains will become May flowers and then Maine will tease us with summer days and then cold spring ones again in June before deciding that maybe we can have 6 weeks of summer between July and the 1st of September. A lot of things are still up in the air about this summer, and currently out of my control.

Except for my book launch which is coming on the longest (and shortest) day of the year June 21st. Are you ready? I am still learning so much about book formatting and all the small pieces I still need to do, but my launch page should be ready in about a month. And it is all super exciting.

In the meantime you can join my launch mailing list HERE.

How is spring treating you? How are you feeling about mud season?

Chase Young is the founder of The Mommy Rebellion a place for judgment-free parenting.  She’s created a place to get tips, tools and support for what it is truly like to be a mother, stories from the trenches that show you you’re not alone.  Tips that real mothers use.  Tools to give to yourself and to your parenting friends to feel more focused, have more patience and energy, and feel less tired and snappy .  
You can follow Chase here on this blog, sign up for her newsletter here and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Women’s Circles; Creating a Unique Space for Women to Support One Another

by | Apr 18, 2019 | Parenting, Self-Care, Tips and Techniques, Truth-Telling

Megan Day, founder of Rooted & Vibrant is sharing with us her empowering journey of starting a women’s circle and what the community means to her. 

Keep reading to see how to join!

“A circle of women may be the most powerful force known to humanity. If you have one, embrace it. If you need one, seek it. If you find one, for the love of all that is good and holy, dive in…Let them see you. Let them hold you. Let your reluctant tears fall. Let yourself rise fierce and love gentle. You will be changed. The very fabric of your being will be altered.”
-Jeanette LeBlanc

In October 2018, I had the idea to start a women’s circle in my community.
A women’s circle is just what it sounds like, it’s a group of women sitting in a circle with a common intention. The whole idea of a women’s circle is to create a space that is free from distractions and that is supportive for women to come and learn about themselves. I announced on Facebook that my first women’s circle would take place on the next new moon, November 7th.

There are a number of reasons why I started a women’s circle. First off, I have a life coaching practice called Rooted & Vibrant that I run out of my home. I work with moms one-on-one to help them get back to their true selves after having kids. Many of the moms that I work with have a dream tugging at them but they are unsure how to make their dreams a reality. Their limitations are usually part mindset (what they think is actually possible for themselves) and part logistics (being the busy, devoted parents that they are). I wanted to create a community for these women to feel supported. I wanted them to know that there were other women going through similar challenges; that they were not alone.

I think it’s fair to say however, that the creation of this women’s circle was initially for myself. As a new entrepreneur, I had spent my first year in business going to many networking events. Although I did meet some amazing people, I was not feeling the support and connection that I longed for. There was something more that I was searching for. I wanted deeper connection. I wanted a platform to explore my own feelings. I wanted to meet other like-minded women who were also on a journey. As an introvert, it sometimes takes me multiple meetings to move past the small talk with new people. I wanted to be able to speak authentically, not in a calculated way that just made me look good. The other part for me was that I was at a stage in my coaching career that I was being challenged to take on more of a leadership role. Facilitating a women’s circle felt like just the nudge I needed to develop my own feminine leadership skills.

I was also feeling distraught and helpless about the #metoo movement. As a woman, and a mother of two girls, I was feeling afraid for the future. It was very disconcerting to learn that abuse against women exists on every level of society, that it is very pervasive across cultures. I was saddened by the fact that it took until 2018 for women’s voices to be heard and believed (this could be a whole other post about the unfortunate reality that it took women of privilege to speak up about their experiences for this to become a true, serious point of discussion. Trust me, this has not gone without notice). I wanted to empower women to step into their feminine power. I wanted to create a ripple effect of women who felt that they could make a difference. I wanted them to understand and own their stories, feel supported enough to share their stories, and motivate them to step up and make a change. Starting a women’s circle was a way for me to move past this feeling of helplessness and to move into action. Facilitating a women’s circle felt like my way of ‘walking my talk’.

When I started a monthly women’s sisterhood circle, I had never been to one myself. I’m not really sure where the idea to start one came from. It was a feeling, almost like a calling. I wasn’t sure where to start either. I did some research and found that women’s circles have been a part of history for hundreds of years in many different cultures. This was powerful to feel connected to generations of women who gathered before us.

I came across a group online called the Global Sisterhood. I signed up to become a facilitator through the Global Sisterhood immediately. I knew that I wanted to be a part of this bigger movement going on globally. The Global Sisterhood provided me with monthly themes and rituals that I could incorporate into my circles. The really cool part about the Global Sisterhood was that they coordinate the dates for the women’s circles so that women’s circles happen on the same evening, the new moon, at different locations around the world. We could sit together in circle, with thousands of other women at the same time!

I put myself out there. I was terrified but it was SO worth it. That first women’s circle I held was electric. It’s hard to explain, but the women that showed up were excited and eager to take part. Friends, neighbours, coaching clients and yoga colleagues showed up. There was meditation, music and journaling. We created intentions for ourselves and shared them out loud. We laughed and we cried together.

We continue to meet on a monthly basis, on the new moon because the new moon is a symbol for new beginnings. Each month there is an opportunity to reset and start fresh.

There are usually a few women that show up again and again but each month there is a different dynamic to the group, as new women join. I am of the thought that those women that need to be there will come.
It is an honor to facilitate these women’s circles. There is nothing better than being together, being real and feeling supported for being just who you are.

Megan Day, MSc, CLC, is a Certified Life Coach, Meditation Instructor and the founder of Rooted & Vibrant. Her mission is to empower women to find their life’s work and to help ambitious moms create fulfilling lives.

In 2017, Megan made the decision to resign from her 10 year career in healthcare to start her own business and explore her calling. She values family, community, connection and adult conversation. She has found her life purpose in helping other moms find theirs.

Connect with Megan at www.instagram.com/rooted_and_vibrant and www.facebook.com/rootedandvibrant/.  

The Phantom Pooper

by | Apr 9, 2019 | Parenting

You know that poop that happened in the toilet and for some godforsaken reason was never flushed down?

Do you have a phantom pooper in your house? I’d love to hear about it if you do so that I know I am not the only one!

We have a phantom pooper at my house.

And I don’t mean those lovely little packages your toddler or sweet pet leaves for you. We have totally had those. One of our cats used to have to be crated at night because otherwise he would poop in front of the back door every night and I was pregnant so the hell with cleaning that up.

I don’t have any very small people left in my house. I have two cats who are well outside-and-only-use-the-litter-box-during-the-winter trained.

My youngest is 5 and has been completely potty trained for a couple of years now. My middles are mostly out of over night diapers except when they are sick.

So my hubby and I were not expecting phantom poop.

You know that poop that happened in the toilet and for some godforsaken reason was never flushed down?

That one. It ends up getting under the toilet paper if someone else comes along and uses the toilet and like never actually looks in the bowl.

And it just sits there, not smelling so nice, and just mellowing and waiting for a grown up to come along and just hit flush.

And I know from the size of the snakes that it is not an adult who is doing it. I mean we all forget things sometimes, or get interrupted because mom’s pooping on the toilet it must be time for an emergency. Like. Right. Now.

No I am not talking about those times. This has become a pattern, but we can’t figure out which of the kids is doing it.

I suspect it may in fact be more than one.

The 5 year old usually makes me wipe her butt so I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s not her.

I have caught the 10 year old having left the poop in the bowl and she is a bit space cadet-y lately thanks to those lovely hormones that decided to show up already.

My eldest has been known to be the skiddie monster of her undies. Which has the added bonus of no one else being willing to wear her undies, and in a household of four girls I suspect that’s just a way to mark her territory.

And my 7 year old, it might be her. She’s pretty go lucky happy so it’s possible. Or not, it’s really hard to tell.

It tends to just be one bathroom too, the downstairs one. Which is currently off limits as we have week old ducks in a box on the floor right now because it is too cold to keep them in the basement and well the cats might think at their current size they would be yummy snacks.

So it will be interesting to see if the phantom pooper shows up now that we are down to one bathroom for the next could of weeks until we can move the heat lamp over the ducks higher and move them all into the bathtub.

I mean I know it could be so much worse. At least the poop is in the toilet right? No smeared on the walls or just squatting in the corner. I am grateful that days like that are behind us.

Which does beg the question why this is even happening because at 12-5 you would think they would all be good in the bathroom department right?

Everyone seems to have gotten over the being scared of the flushing toilet sound.

Or have they?

Maybe that’s the problem….

It’s too noisy?

Do you have a phantom pooper in your house? I’d love to hear about it if you do so that I know I am not the only one!

Chase Young is the founder of The Mommy Rebellion a place for judgment-free parenting.  She’s created a place to get tips, tools and support for what it is truly like to be a mother, stories from the trenches that show you you’re not alone.  Tips that real mothers use.  Tools to give to yourself and to your parenting friends to feel more focused, have more patience and energy, and feel less tired and snappy .  
You can follow Chase here on this blog, sign up for her newsletter here and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Non-Linear Healing

by | Apr 2, 2019 | Parenting

I hate that
Healing
Isn’t linear.
That I can feel
Great or just
Good
For days
And then the 
Combination
Of boisterous
Child
And sunshine
On glaring
Melting
Muddy Snow
And my brain
Pulls the 
Emergency
Brake
On my soul
And my 
Ability to 
Function
To
Focus
To see
Past 
The blurry
Vision
Ceases to 
Be
And 
Into a dark
Cave
I must go.
And I don’t 
Know 
When I 
Will feel
Safe
Enough to 
Come out
Again.
With only 
The
Darkness
And Inner
Work 
And the 
Occasional
Book
To keep me
Company
While my
Brain
Sorts itself
Out
Again.
It’s not fair
I hate it
When will it end?
Chase Young is the founder of The Mommy Rebellion a place for judgment-free parenting.  She’s created a place to get tips, tools and support for what it is truly like to be a mother, stories from the trenches that show you you’re not alone.  Tips that real mothers use.  Tools to give to yourself and to your parenting friends to feel more focused, have more patience and energy, and feel less tired and snappy .  
You can follow Chase here on this blog, sign up for her newsletter here and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Cooking is Not the Only Way to Engage Your Child into the World of Cooking

by | Mar 29, 2019 | Cooking, Parenting

Kim Calichio, owner of The Connected Chef, joins us today to talk about the ways to incorporate kids into the world of food without necessarily cooking with them.

Engaging in a two-way conversation around whole foods is the first step to establishing healthy and independent food choices for your child.

Cooking doesn’t have to be the only path to healthy eating though.

Beginning a conversation around food is the first small step any parent can make when wanting to establish or change the choices that their child (or family) is making around food.

 

Here are some great ways to BEGIN the food conversation in your family…

 

  • Take some time throughout the month to talk with your children about what real food is.

That’s it.

No matter the age of your child, these are conversation can and should happen regularly.

  • Name the ingredients you have!

Even if in just passing or when cooking, state the name of the ingredients you have around and are eating.

You can expand with the color, shape, and size or the various foods.

Comparing flavors is a great way to extend this conversation with older and younger children. We talk about salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami in all of our classes!

  • Talk about where your food grows

Connect the things your child eats with our planet.

This is a vital step to your child understanding that their food choices are bigger than themselves. Connecting them to the source of their food, even if in conversation, will bring a greater respect for the product and mindfulness over time.

What regions do your ingredients grow?

Does it come from the sky? The soil? A tree or bush?

 

  • Discover what nutrients are in different ingredients

Google different ingredients and find the nutrients they contain & the benefits each different food has on your bodies.

Frame this conversation with pure curiosity. “I wonder why it’s good to eat cucumbers?”

This will likely be a learning experience for you too!

 

We invite you to come along and be a part of our community for additional support and opportunity for continued connection. Sign up HERE.

The Connected Chef works with families to use food as a way to connect with one another. Our children’s gardening and cooking classes and individual family programs both allow us to work with clients to problem solve the struggles of parenthood and food. The results: Kids who feel empowered to make independent & healthy food choices and develop a natural respect for their environment and community; Parents who are able to take a breath and connect with their kids instead of engaging in the ever-present struggle of mealtime.

Join our community and stay connected by following us on Facebook and Instagram.

What a Concussion Looks Like

by | Mar 26, 2019 | Mental Health, Parenting, Self-Care, Truth-Telling

Sign up HERE to receive the latest news on my Mommy Rebellion book release!!

Chase Young is the founder of The Mommy Rebellion a place for judgment-free parenting.  She’s created a place to get tips, tools and support for what it is truly like to be a mother, stories from the trenches that show you you’re not alone.  Tips that real mothers use.  Tools to give to yourself and to your parenting friends to feel more focused, have more patience and energy, and feel less tired and snappy .  
You can follow Chase here on this blog, sign up for her newsletter here and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

Two Things I’m Giving Moms Permission to Do

by | Mar 21, 2019 | Affirmations, Grounding, Mental Health, Parenting

 Have you ever felt like your needs don’t matter as mom? 

Megan Day, founder of Rooted & Vibrant is here to tell you that that’s normal and that it is possible to take back some control over your life with 2 basic, but not easy, skills.
When you take back control of your day to day activities, you increase your personal power and THAT can feel very liberating. 

I often hear mom’s saying that they feel overwhelmed. That there is not enough time in the day. That their house is a mess. That they don’t have time to cook healthy meals.

All human beings have a basic need for attention and power. Once our needs for food, shelter, love and safely are met, these are the next things we are concerned with. This is based on Adlerian psychology.

Have you ever felt like your needs don’t matter as mom? Like you are worrying about everyone else except yourself? Well, I’m here to tell you that that’s normal. I’m also here to tell you that it is possible to take back some control over your life with 2 basic, but not easy, skills. When you take back control of your day to day activities, you increase your personal power and THAT can feel very liberating.

 

  • The art of the NO

Why is NO such a loaded word? For me, I am a recovering people pleaser. I want to be seen as agreeable. If I really drill down, I think this stems from being an overweight pre-teen and just wanting to be the “nice” girl. I didn’t want any undue, negative attention, so I stayed quiet and agreeable. As I have matured and my self-confidence has improved I have come to recognize that this is not serving me.

Maybe you have a little people pleaser inside of you? How is that working for you? It can create overwhelm and unbalance. It can also create resentment.

 

  • Also the Art of the ASK

Asking for help. My gosh, is this difficult! When it comes to my family, I am full of pride and a bit of control freak. I recently took a parenting personality assessment that proved this. My sister and I are working through a program called Positive Parenting Solutions (more about this amazing program another day because that’s a blog post on its own). This program highlights the fact that any discipline issues you may be experiencing with your kids have two sides. You, as the parent, are 50% of the issue!

Argh! Did this hit home! I kind of already knew this but when I took the parenting personality assessment my results were staggering. I am a triple threat. I had a 3-way tie between controlling, people pleasing and superiority complex. My poor kids!

My point here is that I am a controlling parent who thinks she does things better than anyone else. Sorry! (Not sorry) This makes it challenging to ask for help. To admit that I want to do something but will need the grandparents to come and help watch the kids is hard. 

Even harder, is asking friends for help. For some reason, this takes a certain amount of vulnerability. I have gotten better at this in the past year, now that my youngest is over 2 and I’m not nursing, but trust me, it is still challenging. 

As a coach who works with ambitious and heart-centered moms, I see this internal struggle all the time between wanting to succeed in your career or business BUT also deeply desiring to be a connected parent. Finding that balance between both can be challenging. I call it the elusive quest for balance.

Together we work on developing a definition of what “success” means to you. Success means different things to different women.  Then we work on ways that you can be more successful by your own definition. Sometimes it is a mindset, illuminating your worth and uncovering your confidence. Other times, it is peeling back the layers of unrealistic expectations you have put on yourself or that you have unconsciously picked up from society. Either way, what happens is a blossoming. You take back control of your life and you step into your power as a woman and a mother. It’s a beautiful thing.

To help you take that first step in your journey, I’ve created a free online quiz for mamas. This quiz highlights what a piece of your self you may be missing. Finding ways to express that part of yourself can bring you back to who you are and what you really need to feel whole. Find the quiz HERE.   

Megan Day, MSc, CLC, is a Certified Life Coach, Meditation Instructor and the founder of Rooted & Vibrant. Her mission is to empower women to find their life’s work and to help ambitious moms create fulfilling lives.

In 2017, Megan made the decision to resign from her 10 year career in healthcare to start her own business and explore her calling. She values family, community, connection and adult conversation. She has found her life purpose in helping other moms find theirs.

Connect with Megan at www.instagram.com/rooted_and_vibrant and www.facebook.com/rootedandvibrant/.  

Reducing Stress is Prevention

by | Mar 14, 2019 | Affirmations, Mental Health, Parenting, Self-Care

Jenn Greiner of Green Thinking, shares the benefits of self care and how you can incorporate essential oils into your practice. 

We can feel Spring in the air!  Us New Englanders take this as the sign to get out our summer clothes and try not to get sick anymore.  The kids start having more energy and are able to be outside more. Us adults may become overwhelmed by Spring cleaning & Spring Fever!  So what can we do to take care of ourselves when the stress increases with warm weather just around the corner?!?

Heightened states of stress causes a few things to happen in our bodies:

  • Increased release of our stress hormone, Cortisol.  

    *This hormone is only meant to be released for short periods of time during a fight or flight response.  

  • A very important protein (Immunoglobulin A – IgA) goes down.

    *This protein helps ‘healthy immune function and the internal defense system (Dispenza, 2017, p. 42).  

    *This lowered protein makes us susceptible to sickness.

    • Our bodies believe they are stuck in this stressful environment.  

    Dr. Dispenza studied this IgA protein and wondered if our mood could increase our immune system.  

    His study showed that if you can elevate your mood, even just for a few days, your body starts to believe it’s in a new environment and can increase the protein up to 50% and decrease Cortisol by 16%!!

    Maintaining a low to null stress level is part of preventing illness!  We can do this in so many ways. One way I’ve found myself talking about a lot is mindfulness.  

    I have gotten into the habit of meditating every morning and the impact I see that it has made on my life is invaluable.  If I don’t meditate, I feel irritable, moody and do not have very good days overall. When I do meditate, I have a sense of calm, lower stress and feel that I can better manage whatever the universe throws my way.

    Another great way to lower stress is self-care.  Making time for yourself to do the things you enjoy and make you feel good.  It could be small things like showering or eating. It could also include crafting, cooking or being in the outdoors.   It doesn’t have to be done on your own either! Have game night with your family so that you’re full of love & laughs!

    Another way to help prevent illness, is using essential oils.  You can use essential oils to manage your stress. Use lavender for calming, Wild Orange for anxiety, Rosemary for focus, Cedarwood for grounding and so many more!  (See my blog for how you can use these oils.)

    In my opinion, the best oil for preventing sickness is On Guard, the Protective Blend.  It helps kills germs and boost our immune systems. There is a wide variety of On Guard products.  I use the Foaming Hand Wash in the kitchen and bathroom and the Concentrate to clean my surfaces.  Starting around this time, I start putting one drop of On Guard oil on the bottoms of my feet.  I also carry my Immunity rollerball with me during travel.  Also check out some of my favorite diffuser blends for kiddos.

     

    • How do you help keep you & your family healthy?
    •  Which is your favorite On Guard product?
    •  Do you have a self-care routine?

    Jennifer Greiner began discovering her passions and areas of interest at a young age which developed through her academic career.  She has always enjoyed learning new alternative, natural methods to integrate into her own lifestyle.

     

    In 2014 she received a graduate degree in Art Therapy and began working in the mental health field with children and families.

     

    Through integrating essential oils into her own lifestyle, she saw her overall health & wellness increase and became eager to include these tools for her clients. She developed Green Thinking in 2016 so she could enjoy sharing methods and tools with her clients and growing community. She offers mental health counseling to address personal development goals.